Terming greater cooperation among regional countries crucial for their development and prosperity, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani stressed on Monday on enhancing trade, energy and road links at the 10th meeting of the Heads of Government Council of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), held in Russia’s historical city of St Petersburg.
The prime minister proposed a five-point development plan based on the SCO-sponsored intra-regional and inter-regional cooperation in trade, building infrastructure and power links.
The development plan included arranging finance and initiation of work on electricity transmission lines, taking concrete measures to start the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) and Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline projects, setting up a preferential, and if possible, a free trade zone in the SCO region, cooperation in the financial and banking sectors and relaxation of visa regimes for diplomats, officials and businessmen.
Prime Minister Gilani represented Pakistan as an observer state at the SCO forum, and was joined by the leadership of SCO member states Russia, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan at the Constantine Palace here. The prime minister said Pakistan attached importance to the SCO and believed that the organisation had the capacity and resolve to overcome the most pressing challenges of present times. He added that the SCO had the enormous potential to promote regional economic cooperation in a holistic manner.
He said terrorism, extremism, drugs and syndicate crime were challenging societies, states and the region. He said pervasive global economic and financial crises, unemployment and socio-economic stress were making the picture bleak. Though daunting, these challenges could be surmounted by developing a cohesive response based on clarity and a firm conviction to work together, he added. He reiterated Pakistan’s desire for full membership of the SCO and expressed gratitude to all members for their support to the request.
Gilani termed security and development important regional issues. He said the challenges of reconciliation, reconstruction and revival of Afghan polity needed to be addressed objectively. He welcomed the SCO’s role and efforts in this regard. He said political realism and clarity demanded that Afghanistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity was respected by all, and added that Pakistan would continue to contribute to the stability of Afghanistan and support its government and people in their endeavours for reconciliation and reconstruction. Gilani also stressed greater political will and concrete steps to fully realise the vision of the SCO. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced financing of $500 million for the CASA-1000, which would ensure power transmission from Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan and Afghanistan. He also called for investment flows to develop national economies. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao supported Pakistan’s proposal of building cross-border road links and suggested policy support for free flow of goods, establishment of a seed bank for cooperation on agriculture and expansion in currency swap agreements.
Gilani and Putin also discussed on Monday the whole gamut of relations on the sidelines of the SCO meeting. The two leaders discussed ways to strengthen relations by increasing cooperation in energy, trade, infrastructure development, agriculture, business cooperation and people-to-people contacts.
